Buoyant swimming pool covers



Sept. 15, 1970 E. E. WOYClK 3,528,110

BUOYANT SWIMMING POOL COVERS Filed Nov. 16, 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR EDWARD E. WOYCIK ATTQRNEYS Sept. 15, 1970 E. E. WOYCIK BUOYANT SWIMMING POOL COVERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 16, 1967 FIG. IO

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INVENTOR EDWARD E. WOYCIK ATTORN EYS United States Patent O 3,528,110 BUOYANT SWIMMING POOL COVERS Edward E. Woycik, 15031 Cedar-grove, Detroit, Mich. 48205 Filed Nov. 16, 1967, Ser. No. 683,733 Int. Cl. E04h 3/16 U.S. Cl. 4172.12 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A buoyant swimming pool cover made of a substantially thick sheet of foam plastic capable of floating on the surface of the water in the swimming pool. The cover may be made in one piece or of several elements fastened together.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to covers for substantially small bodies of water, and more particularly to a buoyant or floating cover for outdoor swimming pools.

Outdoor swimming pools, of the above the ground as well as of the sunken type, are often provided with icovers made of cloth, mesh or plastic, which are spread over the pool when the pool is not in use, for the purpose of keeping foreign matters such as dirt and debris out of the water. Such covers present many inconveniences in normal usage. Rain loads down the covers causing them to tear or submerge under the water, falling or thrown objects may pierce the cover, children falling upon the cover have been known to become entangled in the cover or have passed through the cover and drowned. Covers have been torn and ripped by winds, etc.

Buoyant or floating swimming pool covers have been known for some time. They are generally of a material, such as a plastic lighter than water, woven as a closed mesh fabric, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,110,908, of an open mesh construction as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,870,455, or alternately, they may be made of interconnected elongated or tubular floating members, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,128,478 and 3,144,665. U.S. Pat. No. 3,072,920 discloses a swimming pool floating cover generally in the form of a huge pneumatic mattress.

It is obvious that buoyant swimming pool covers as found in the prior art are costly to manufacture, they easily deteriorate with usage, they have a limited buoyancy which generally is not suflicient to support even a lightweight body such as one of a child, and open mesh construction buoyant swimming pool covers permit dirt and debris to fall into the water. Buoyant covers of the pneumatic mattress construction are very expensive, can be easily pierced, thus letting the air escape therefrom and they become rapidly useless.

The present invention provides swimming pool covers capable of floating on the surface of the water, which may be used in combination with conventional canvas or plastic swimming pool covers, which are made of cheap easily available material, which have sufficient buoyancy and strength to support a body, even the body of an adult, which present a continuous impervious surface through which debris and dirt can not reach the water and which prevent the accumulation of rain water on the top of the covers.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent when the following description of a few illustrative examples of embodiments thereof is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an above the ground swimming pool provided with a buoyant cover according to the present invention in addition to being provided with a conventional cover;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of an example of buoyant swimming pool cover according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view along line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of another example of buoyant swimming pool cover according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view along line 66 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a transverse sectional view along line 77 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of a further example of buoyant swimming pool cover according to the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view along line 99 of FIG 8;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view along line 1010 of FIG. 8;

FIG 11 is a partial sectional view of a buoyant swimming pool cover according to the present invention showing details of construction; and

FIG. 12 is a schematic perspective view of a sunken swimming pool provided with a further example of a buoyant swimming pool cover according to the present invention,

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a typical above the ground circular pool 10 provided with a conventional cover 12 held in position by means of cables or straps 14 adequately aflixed to the ground by way of anchoring means or stakes 16. The perimeter of cover 12 engages the top edge 18 of the pool, and below the cover 12 is disposed a buoyant cover 20 according to the present invention.

The cover 20 may be made of a one-piece substantially thick sheet of foam plastic, such as foam polystyrene or the like, as illustrated in FIGS. 27, or it may be made of separate pieces fastened together, as will be explained hereinafter in further detail and as illustrated in FIGS. 8-10.

Referring now to FIGS. 2-4, a one-piece buoyant swimming pool cover 20, according to the present invention, is cut or shaped to a dimension and contour adapted to conform to the size and shape of the body of water in a predetermined pool. The cover 20 has substantial thickness so as to be endowed with substantial buoyancy and rigidity, and preferably, its upper face 22 is slightly convex so as to permit rain passing through the conventional cover 12, when such cover is in use, or rain falling on the upper surface 22 of the buoyant cover 20 to flow to the perimeter thereof without any possibility of accumulating on any portion of the upper surface. The bottom surface 24 is preferably flat. FIGS. 2-4 show an example of buoyant swimming pool cover 20 wherein the top surface is hemispherical, while FIGS. 5-7 show an example wherein the top face is partially cylindrical. It is obvious that other shapes for the top surface 22 may be used such as a pyramidal shape or a gabled top shape, all that is necessary being to provide sufiicient slope for the rain water to properly drain off the top of the cover.

As shown in FIGS. 3-4 and 6-7, and more clearly in FIG. 11, the buoyant swimming pool cover 20 is made of a foam plastic, preferably of the type having closed air cells 26, the sheet of foam plastic being cut or formed to the appropriate shape and dimension of the pool. The thickness of the sheet of foam plastic may be any thickness that is convenient, and it has been found that a thickness of about two inches provides the advantages of substantial rigidity and adequate buoyancy. The sheet of foam plastic, such as foamed polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, tynelofoam, and the like may be used as such, or preferably, as shown. in FIG. 11, it may be covered with a flexible continuous wrapper-like overlayer 28 or coated with a paint or with a sprayed-on vinyl coating. The overlayer 28, whether of the wrapped-on, of the sprayed-on or of the painted-on variety, prevents the sheet of foam plastic from becoming water-logged after a considerable period of use, and also prevents particles of plastic flaking off the cover from being introduced into the water of the pool.

For ease of handling and manipulation of the cover according to the present invention, when the cover is used on large area swimming pools, it is preferable to make the cover in several sections fastened together by appropriate fastening means. An example of such construction is shown in FIGS. 8-10, wherein the buoyant swimming pool cover 20 is made of separate pieces 30, 32, 34 and 36, interconnected by fastening means such as pins 38. At the junction between the diverse portions, corresponding step-like cut-outs, as shown at 40 and 42, are formed in the adjoining edges of the portions, and pins 38 are used to join the portions together by being passed through reinforcement bushings, as shown at 44 and 46, in FIG. 9, in order to permit the diverse portions to be solidly held together.

As shown in FIG. 12, the buoyant swimming pool cover of the invention may be used without a conventional pool cover, and adequate holding or tie-down means such as straps 50 having appropriate anchoring means as shown at 52 for attaching the ends of the straps to the edge of the pool, are preferably used for holding the cover 20 in position and for preventing the accidental or unauthorized removal of the cover. As illustrated, the buoyant cover 20 of FIG. 12 is shown as being provided with a gable-top surface 22.

Having thus described the invention by way of several illustrative examples thereof, modifications whereof will become apparent to those skilled in the art, what is sought to be protected by United States Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A buoyant cover for a swimming pool comprising a rigid structure having sufficient buoyancy to support a human body made of foam plastic of at least two inches in thickness, and structure having a perimeter shaped to fit exactly within the perimeter of said swimming pool, said structure further having a substantially flat bottom surface and a convex upper surface whereby rainwater normally drains thereolf.

2. The buoyant cover of claim 1 wherein said structure comprises at least two portions and means for rigidly fastening said portions together.

3. The buoyant cover of claim 1 wherein said structure has a continuous surface coating.

4. The buoyant cover of claim 1 made of a foamed plastic material belonging to a class comprising polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene and tynelofoam.

5. The buoyant cover of claim 3 wherein said continuous surface coating is a sprayed-on vinyl coating.

6. The buoyant cover of claim 1 further comprising tie-down means preventing unauthorized removal of said structure from the surface of said pool.

7. The buoyant cover of claim 6 wherein said tie down means comprises a conventional swimming pool cover disposed above said structure.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,736,825 11/1929 Grifi'in. 2,884,156 4/1959 Graham et al. 2,888,717 6/ 1959 Domitrovie. 3,077,610 2/ 1963 Gazdik. 3,091,777 6/ 1963 Pearson. 3,391,410 7/1968 Melberg.

FOREIGN PATENTS 13,780 12/ 1928 Australia. 660,246 6/ 1965 Belgium.

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner H. K. ARTIS, Assistant Examiner Patent No. 3,528,110 Dated September 15, 1970 Inventor 5) Edward E Woyc ik It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

IN THE CLAIMS Column 4, line 3, after "body" insert and line 4, befocre "structure" cancel "and" and insert thereinstead said SIGNED MD irl? mm 1. JR- \ttestmg Officur Gomiuioner of Patents FORM PO-IOSO (10-59) USCOMM-DC 5 75.p5q

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